10/27/09 Homemade pumpkin pie brings the pleasure of autumn and the holidays to your home. When cleaning pumpkins for pie, don’t discard the seeds. They make a nutritious and delicious, wholesome snack. Separate the seeds from the stringy interior mass and rinse them under cold water in a colander. Spread them out on paper towels to dry. Toss with a little olive oil to cover and sprinkle arrange them on a cookie sheet or baking pan in a single layer. Season with sea salt, garlic salt, tabasco sauce, or cinnamon & sugar depending on your preference. Get creative! Roast them in the oven at 325F for 20-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to roast them evenly and prevent burning. The seeds are done when they are light brown and fragrant. Some seeds have outer hulls; crack them off in your mouth and enjoy the inner nut meat.

10/14/09 Stop paying to have your yard debris hauled away and start your own compost pile. Compost is nature's food for the soil. It helps break up heavy clay, loosen the soil, add organic matter, encourage critical microbial life in the ground, and more.
While you're doing your fall cleanup chores, chop up larger plant material into small pieces and toss onto the pile. Add some high-nitrogen manure to accelerate the composting process. Once the compost is 'digested' and turned a dark, homogeneous consistency, it's ready to use. Return it to the garden, ornamental beds or as mulch around your plants, and watch them bloom!

10/02/09 Now's the time to get garlic and spring-blooming flower bulbs in the ground. For each individual clove of garlic you plant now, you'll harvest a full head next summer! Flower bulbs will reward you with glorious displays early in the season when most of us gardeners need them the most, so spend a little time planting now and you'll be grateful in the spring.

08/12/09 Plant fall-sown cover crops early enough for them to establish themselves prior to the onset of cold weather. If necessary, plant the cover crops in between rows of existing plants. The plants suppress weeds, retard erosion, add organic matter and store nutrients for future plants. In the spring, allow about a month between tilling the plants under and planting vegetable crops to allow the organic matter to break down in the soil.

07/22/09 After June-bearing raspberries have been harvested, cut back the canes to the ground. Dispose of (don't compost) cut canes to help prevent disease.

06/11/09 Mow down weeds or lawn around the vegetable garden area and keep it well trimmed. Lawn and weed overgrowth can harbor harmful diseases and destructive pests like slugs and snails.

05/11/09 Cover new brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, kale, etc.), onions and carrots with Summer Insect Barrier floating row cover. The cover will discourage harmful cabbage worms and root maggots in the carrots & onions.

04/20/09 Prune spring-blooming shrubs like rhododendron & azalea right after they finish flowering. These plants set their buds for next year early. If you wait to cut them back, you will most likely reduce or destroy next year's flowers.

04/06/09 Just planting blueberries or strawberries? Encourage the plants to focus their energies on growing strong, healthy roots by pinching off their first-season's blooms. For everbearing strawberries, remove the first flush of blooms. As painful as this may seem, it will pay off for years to come!

03/30/09 Don’t let the weeds get the best of you. With the onset of longer days and warmer weather, everything starts to really grow—even the unwanted plants. Eliminating weeds when they are tiny seedlings is much easier than trying to pull them when they are well established. Take some time to stay on top of the emerging pests now, and you’ll be grateful later in the season. After cleaning up a bed, remember that Mother Nature hates bare ground. A light covering of mulch prevents reoccurrence of the unwelcome visitors.

03/23/09 Time to plant summer-blooming flower bulbs! Gladiolas, dahlias, canna, calla, lilies, crocosmia, and early flowering anemone will give you warm-season color if you plant them now! A little bone meal will boost the blossoms and make the summer show even more dazzling!

03/17/09 Territorial's Planting Chart is a wealth of planting and harvesting information in a succinct, chart format. All you need to know for when to plant, how much and what you'll harvest. Check it out!

03/12/09 While you're mapping your summer garden floorplan, keep in mind companion planting. Some plants respond positively when neighbored with others. Let Mother Nature work with you and your gardening efforts! Carrots Love Tomatoes, by Louise Riotte is a wonderful resource for information on companion gardening.

02/16/09 For most areas of the country, fruit trees are still in their winter slumber, so it's prime time to prune. Remove any dead or weak wood first, then selectively cut branches that cross awkwardly, always keeping in mind maintaining the natural shape of the tree.

01/28/09 Year-round gardening means homegrown, fresh veggies all the time. This is a pretty challenging time of year for much of the country to be harvesting out of the garden, but what about growing some super-nutritious food indoors? Sprouts! There is a wide variety of flavors and textures of these wholesome, live tidbits, and they are easy and very speedy to grow. From minute alfalfa and broccoli to crunchy, hearty and substantial mung and adzuki beans. Sweet and nutty to wild and spicy, there’s something for everyone, and no better way to get vitamin and enzyme-packed food so simply.

01/16/09 It’s here! Time for seed starting. Asparagus and artichoke seed should be started indoors at the end of January/beginning of February. Be ready to start your strawberry, rhubarb and perennial flower & herb seed anytime as well. Don't want to start asparagus, strawberries, or rhubarb from seed? We have plants, too!

12/04/08 Protect your irrigation from harmful frost. Expansion from freezing water is a powerful force with the potential to burst pipes and crack valves. Drain irrigation systems and wrap outdoor faucets and valves with insulating material. Drain garden hoses, coil and store them out of the weather for the winter.

11/17/08 Practicing good garden sanitation plays an enormous role in the overall health of the garden. When cleaning up spent vegetable plants and fallen leaves, keep an eye out for any signs of disease. Dispose of any affected leaves and plants; don’t compost them. The compost heap can be a breeding ground for lots of nasty problems, so don’t take any chances. Make a special effort to keep roses and fruit trees free of fallen leaves and debris. You’ll save yourself lots of headaches in the future.

10/09/08 An easy way to tell when Winter squashes are ready to pick is to look at the lighter colored spot on the fruit where it touches the ground. When their ground spot turns from cream or yellow to white the fruit is ready to harvest.

07/22/08 Sow successive plantings of lettuce all season long for a continuous harvest of young, tender leaves. If your summer is excessively hot, plant them in the shade of larger plants like tomatoes or corn. They'll appreciate the shelter and restrain from bolting.

07/01/08 The old trick of using beer to attract and trap slugs really works. Sink a disposable pie tin or tuna can in the soil so the rim is ground-level. Fill it with a half-inch of beer and leave it over night. The slugs can't resist! In the morning, put the whole container of dead-drunk critters where the birds can enjoy them.

06/02/08 Nasturtium and borage are easy to grow from seed and quick to mature. Sow the seed directly where you want them to bloom. They make excellent companions in the vegetable garden or fillers in herb and annual beds. Not only are they beautiful, but they attract beneficial insects, hummingbirds and they are edible! Borage flowers and leaves have a flavor reminiscent of cucumbers, and nasturtium flowers and leaves have a peppery taste. Add them to salads, as a garnish or float a blossom in your favorite beverage for a special touch.

05/19/08 Do your tomatoes suffer from blossom end rot? It can indicate a calcium deficiency in your soil. Amend your garden soil with oyster shell, a natural calcium source.

04/28/08 A handful of Territorial Seed Company’s Complete Fertilizer makes for strong, healthy veggie plants. Stir a little into the soil where you are placing transplants, or mix it in the furrow when sowing seeds. Side-dress heavy-feeders during the season—squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and corn love it!

04/22/08 Thinking about putting out tomatoes, peppers or eggplant starts? Make sure the soil and nighttime air temperatures are consistently warm enough. These heat-loving varieties will suffer if set out too early. Cool temperatures can stunt the growth of young seedlings, resulting in delayed maturity and lower yields. Use plastic mulch to elevate the soil temperature (it helps retain moisture, suppress weeds and accelerate fruit ripening also). Wallo’waters, Kozy Coats, cloches and floating row covers can help keep the plants warm too.

04/14/08 It’s Blueberry Season. Plant blueberry plants with a sprinkling of Acid Mix fertilizer. The fertilizer lowers the pH of the soil, just the way blueberries like it! Mulch around plants with sawdust or straw to keep moisture in and weeds down. Blueberry yields improve when plants are able to cross-pollinate with another (different) blueberry variety. Check out Territorial Seed Company’s selection to add to your blueberry crop.

04/08/08 Time for Spring Cleaning. Tidy up perennial beds: remove heavy mulch layers, leaving just enough to cover the soil surface. Emerging plants will respond to the increased exposure to sun and warmth. Side dress established perennials with high phosphorus fertilizer like bone meal.

03/31/08 Don’t let the weeds get the best of you. With the onset of longer days and warmer weather, everything starts to really grow—even the unwanted plants. Eliminating weeds when they are tiny seedlings is much easier than trying to pull them when they are well established. Take some time to stay on top of the emerging pests now, and you’ll be grateful later in the season. After cleaning up a bed, remember that Mother Nature hates bare ground. A light covering of mulch prevents reoccurrence of the pests.

03/24/08 Apples are an all-time favorite, and now even gardeners with limited space can grow their own crop. The Sentinel ™ Columnar Apples are perfectly suited for containers, and make a stately display, too. The Golden and Scarlet varieties are beautifully paired, pollinating each other and providing harvests of crispy, sweet fruit. We will be shipping the bare-root plants soon, so get yours now!

03/10/08 Potato-planting time is just around the corner. This year we have nine varieties to temp you: fingerlings, russets and boilers, red, white, blue and gold. Place your order today before supplies run out!

03/03/08 Do you have a berry patch? Order your bare-root strawberries and raspberries now, and you’ll be rewarded with the summertime treat of deliciously sweet berries. Order now, we’ll be shipping the plants very soon!

02/25/08
Plan your summer flower garden. Lots of summer-blooming flowers are easy to grow from bulbs. Dahlia, gladiola, calla and canna are a few varieties that you can plant in spring for summer color. We start shipping bulbs in early March, so order now while the selection is good!

02/18/08
Since peppers take extra time to get growing, get a jump on the season. Start the seed indoors in a sunny window or under lights. Up-pot when the seedlings have one or two sets of true leaves.

02/11/08
Start leafy green seed indoors. These plants thrive in cool temperatures, and are quick to mature. Make the most of your garden space, and plant them where your warm weather crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.) will go later in the season.

02/04/08
It’s time to prune rose bushes. First, remove any weak or dead stems, then shape the plants into an open, vase-like form. Trim to knee-high, and leave a growing node facing outwards on the stem.

1/28/08
It’s here! Time for seed starting. Asparagus and artichoke seed should be started indoors at the end of January/beginning of February. Be ready to start your strawberry, rhubarb and perennial flower & herb seed anytime as well. Don't want to start asparagus, strawberries, or rhubarb from seed? We have plants, too!

1/21/08
Did you plant your garlic in the fall? If it’s sprouting and you’re worried about the cold weather damaging it, relax. Garlic has been brought to us from some of the most brutal winter areas on the globe. Yours should be fine!

1/14/08
Take a moment and check the seeds you’ve saved from past seasons. Hopefully you’ve kept them in a cool, dry location, the ideal storage environment for seeds. Discard any seed that appears to have gotten damp, sprouted or become moldy. Also, check the culture boxes in our catalog for the usual seed life of each type of seed. Spinach and onions are some of the veggies that are typically viable for only a year.

1/07/08
While you’re planning your spring garden, check your seed starting accessories. Plastic trays, inserts, and pots that you have used in the past for starting seedlings should be sanitized prior to reuse. A very mild bleach solution will do the job. Giving your seeds a sterile growing environment greatly reduces devastating fungal problems like damping off.

01/02/08 Get ready for the planting season.
Happy New Year! Now is a great time to check on your seed starting supplies and indoor lighting accessories. If you need seed starting mix, potting accessories, heat mats or bulbs for your indoor growing fixtures, now is the time to get them together. Seed starting time is just around the corner!

12/27/07 2008 Spring Catalogs are in the mail
Check your mailboxes: Territorial Seed Company’s brand new 2008 Spring Catalog is in the mail! If you aren’t on our list, click here and we’ll send you your very own copy of this breakthrough edition.

12/14/2007 Indoor Gardening ProjectIf you’re like many gardeners, this time of year can leave you feeling very cooped up and itching to garden. Here’s a great suggestion for a gardening project that’s just right for the winter: indoor mushroom kits! Watch the fascinating development of shiitake, lion’s mane, portabello, white button or pearl oyster mushrooms, and then harvest your own homegrown crop!

11/30/07 Make a garden calendar and start planning your spring garden now!
There is nothing better than relieving the winter doldrums with thoughts of a bountiful, beautiful garden to come. Our paper catalog arrives in homes at the end of December but all of our new varieties for 2008 can be viewed on our brand new website. That means you can peruse our online catalog and start choosing what to grow this spring.
When planning, it is often times helpful to create a garden calendar. This could be just a simple chart that can include whatever information you find helpful in planning and implementing the garden. Start out with a type of vegetable, flower, or herb (i.e. broccoli, zinnia, basil) and then choose particular varieties that you would like to grow (i.e. Fiesta broccoli, Aztec Sunset zinnia, or Aroma 1 basil). After that, use our paper or online catalog to fill in additional helpful information such as: When to start seeds indoors/outdoors, when to set transplants out, approximate 1st harvest date, spacing requirements, fertilizing requirements, and watering requirements. And, you don't have to stop there! Use your imagination and include whatever you find useful in planning your garden. Before you know it, spring will be here and you can be in the garden, digging in the dirt.